Hello Taffyfrog,
Does this mean we have another Combe St Nicholas/Welsh connection? What is it about South Wales; am I missing something!
I have details of many 'Players' from Combe St Nicholas, but not much on this Mary Ann. With a risk of getting confused with another - Mary Ann was a common name - I have her details: b.20 May 1857 at Combe; baptised 23 Aug 1857 at Combe; moved to Otterford with her parents Jacob & Ann sometime 1860 or early 1861; married 15 Jan 1878 at Otterford; died 28 Oct 1932; buried 3 Nov 1932 at Combe.
It seems her parents, Jacob and Ann nee Betty, married in Combe in 1848. Each had been there some while and appeared in the 1841 census at Combe, though living separately. Then in 1851 they are together, in Combe, with young son Charles, aged 1. By the time of the 1861 census they had moved to Otterford where they remained. Jacob died in 1878 and Ann in 1884, both at Otterford; but both were brought back to Combe for burial.
My dating of the move to Otterford is based on the place of baptism of their children: I believe it must have been in 1860 or early 1861. Clearly they retained ties to Combe St Nicholas, which is only about 6 - 8 miles away.
The marriage details of Jacob & Ann include: date 7th Apr 1848 (1848 2ndQ Chard 10/643); Jacob, age 22, a mason, father Jacob; Ann, 18, a glover, father John. In the parish records of the marriage and the birth of the 5 children baptised in Combe (there were a further 5 baptised in Otterford) Jacob's surname was given as Player Haines. However the 'Haines' name doesn't appear in census returns, nor in the burial records. Nor indeed in any other Combe parish records, either as Haines alone or in the double-barrelled name. So where that comes from I don't know.
I've not yet made a connection with Jacob's father (Mary Ann's grandfather), also a Jacob according to the 1848 marriage notes. He *might* have been the Jacob, baptised in Combe on 28 Aug 1803, who married Charlotte Palmer but that's only guessing!!
The family of Mary Ann's mother, Ann Betty, appear extensively in my files and can be found through contact with jennydotdavis at zendotcodotuk. She, Ann that is, was probably born second half of 1829 and was baptised at Combe on 6 Jan 1830, the first of 7 children of John Betty 1807-1856 and Maria nee Fowler 1808-1876.
Looking at what I have on the descendants of Mary Ann & William (or Frederick) Player I see I have a Welsh connection through their son John Thomas who married Lillian Morgan in Cardiff in 1909. Is this your family? Or it could perhaps be through the daughter Florence Grace who wed Albert Bryant in Cardiff in 1912 I believe!
Hope to hear from you soon!
Jennyd
Mary Ann's mother, Ann nee Betty
